New book examines how community coalitions work to alleviate digital inequality
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Updates every hour. Last Updated: 28-Oct-2026 15:16 ET (28-Oct-2026 19:16 GMT/UTC)
Colin Rhinesmith, associate professor of information sciences at the University of Illinois, has authored a new book examining how community coalitions address digital inequality and strengthen democracy. Digital Equity Ecosystems: How Community Coalitions Reduce Inequality and Strengthen Democracy, published by University of California Press, introduces the concept of "digital equity ecosystems" to describe how community coalitions work to alleviate technological inequity and social injustice. The book is the first in-depth look at how cross-sector coalitions—led by local governments, philanthropic organizations, and community members—address information needs and opportunities. The coalitions' work includes environmental sustainability, featuring examples of technology refurbishers, who provide low-cost computers to individuals and families while keeping e-waste out of landfills.
By combining simulations, flight data analysis and extensive experimental testing, researchers from Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University and Research (The Netherlands) were able to identify which combinations of damage, flight conditions and manoeuvres are most likely to result in loss of control. In addition, these indicators can be used not only to detect instability, but also to adapt system behaviour in real-time. For example, they could help determine strategies that maintain flight despite damage to an aircraft’s wing—much in the same way humans accommodate ankle injuries by limping in order to keep walking.
Anuja Tripathi’s childhood exposure to coal fly ash in Kanpur, India, later inspired her research at Georgia Tech on turning the waste into a source of rare earth elements. Working with Ching-Hua Huang and Xing Xie, she developed a cleaner extraction method using a recyclable ionic liquid and electrical current, avoiding the harsh acids, high heat, and excess waste common in other approaches. The process can selectively recover valuable elements like neodymium, which is used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defense technologies. While the method has only been tested in small batches so far, it could eventually help recover critical materials from coal ash, batteries, electronics, and other waste streams.
Azo compounds are widely used in many applications, and photoelectrochemical synthesis provides a promising green route for producing them under mild conditions. Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China reported that Cs+-induced surface reconstruction of BiVO4 photoanodes can stabilize the electrode interface, accelerate charge transfer, and promote efficient photoelectrochemical synthesis of azobenzene under illumination.
Chemist Focuses on Developments Paving the Way to the Quantum Internet – European Research Council is Founding “Hilbert Molecules” Project with roughly EUR 2.5 million
Since Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-rays in 1895, X-ray imaging has become an indispensable tool in modern medical diagnosis, industrial non-destructive testing, security screening, and even cultural heritage preservation. In X-ray imaging systems, detection methods fall into two main categories: direct and indirect. Direct detection uses semiconductor materials to convert X-ray photons directly into electrical signals, offering fast response and high spatial resolution, but it is often expensive and complex to manufacture. Indirect detection employs a “scintillator + photodetector” structure: X-rays are first absorbed by a scintillator material and converted into visible or ultraviolet light, which is then captured by a photodiode or CCD/CMOS sensor and transformed into electrical signals. Indirect detection dominates the current X-ray imaging market because of its mature technology, controllable cost, and excellent compatibility with existing sensors.